[Solid Snake]

Apart from some very silly puzzles,not so good graphics and not so scary atmosphere GK3 was actually a very good game.Take Le Serpent Rougue puzzle for example it was both intriguing and poetic.I also enjoyed quite much working on pictures and matching geometric shapes.Addition of Sydney to the series was quite an original and refreshing idea.Wish new games could be as half creative as GK3.

[scribeswindow]

As far as I'm concerned the GK series set the bar in adventure gaming.

[sciphi]

CGW gave a 2.5/5 actually.I have the issue with me right here.

[Once A Villain]

Originally Posted by sciphi

CGW gave a 2.5/5 actually.I have the issue with me right here.

Can you tell us the Pros and Cons at the end of the review please? I'm interested to know.

[sciphi]

Originally Posted by Once A Villain

Can you tell us the Pros and Cons at the end of the review please? I'm interested to know.

Here is a quote from the review which should sum it up:
"For a story that relies so heavily on characters ther's no substantial character development.Instead there are abrupt twists in the end game as hidden identities are revealed.The game villain is almost completely external to the story,showing up for little more than a cameo appearence.This is a serious tactical error in a parlour drama like Gabriel Knight 3.The point of the hacneyed "the butler did it! clichein murder mysteries is the irony of a murder who was under your nose the entire time.If gabriel knight 3 were a murder mystery the killer would be some guy we barely know who lives across the town.

Although the game's finale is dopey,the plot ending is surprisingly satisfying.And this isn't just because you don't have to play anymore.Jansen ends the story with a new perspective on Grace and Gabriel.If the market gods are willing and there is a fourth installment,we can only hope that Jansen will ease up on the embolism inducing puzzles and give us Grace Nakimura 4:Grace ditches Gabriel and goes solo"

[michael1123]

I agree with the above that GK3 is the worst in the series, but still a great game (4.5 out of 5). I guess if it were a stand alone game I may rate it 4 out of 5, but I'd still rather play GK3 over 95% of other adventure games.

Originally Posted by Once A Villain

The bad acting, for me, really came in the form of Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

Oh my god, I had forgotton how annoying they were. But saying Grace's acting was good is the overstatement of the century, though ... her converstations (and retarded reactions) to Mrs. Smith were excrutiating. But I agree with how acted the hunting club members were. Its a shame that the main characters aren't as well acted. I suppose its because they put more importance into apperance being similar to Gabriel and Grace in GK1 than they did in acting ability.

[Simo Sakari Aaltonen]

Gabriel Knight 3 is one of the most enjoyable games I have played. The graphics are beautiful: movement, feel, verisimilitude... it all makes for great immersion. Truly tasty interface too.

Many people accept the industry confidence trick which says that if it does not use the latest technology, it is bad, outdated and ugly.

I started replaying the original King's Quest. The visuals are lovely. It is simply another style, like Klee's art is different from Michelangelo's.

[Catbert]

Originally Posted by Once A Villain

Well, I know, I just find it funny. But if you want to see worse acting, rent ANY Ed Wood film.

I've been asking a friend of mine to lend me his Plan 9 From Outer Space for ages

[Veovis]

In my opinion, GK 3 is perfect apart from the slow pace in the beginning, a few bad puzzles in the middle and some stupid arcade stuff at the end! It's one of the best games I've ever played and the best (hopefully so far) in a series of great games.

It did recieve a 1/5 score in one of the newspapers here though.

[Once A Villain]

Originally Posted by sciphi

Here is a quote from the review which should sum it up:
"For a story that relies so heavily on characters ther's no substantial character development.Instead there are abrupt twists in the end game as hidden identities are revealed.The game villain is almost completely external to the story,showing up for little more than a cameo appearence.This is a serious tactical error in a parlour drama like Gabriel Knight 3.The point of the hacneyed "the butler did it! clichein murder mysteries is the irony of a murder who was under your nose the entire time.If gabriel knight 3 were a murder mystery the killer would be some guy we barely know who lives across the town.

Although the game's finale is dopey,the plot ending is surprisingly satisfying.

This much sounds similar to my own review, but I'd give the game a 9/10 anyway. It's excellent, while still being the weakest of the series.

Originally Posted by michael1123

Oh my god, I had forgotton how annoying they were. But saying Grace's acting was good is the overstatement of the century, though ... her converstations (and retarded reactions) to Mrs. Smith were excrutiating. But I agree with how acted the hunting club members were. Its a shame that the main characters aren't as well acted. I suppose its because they put more importance into apperance being similar to Gabriel and Grace in GK1 than they did in acting ability.

Well, I didn't think Grace or Gabriel were horrible, I thought they did a fairly good job. I always take into account when the game was made. 1995. FMV games were notorious for having terrible acting, and I was playing them all back then and concurring. GK2 really raised the bar back then, that's why almost every review says the acting is great. Compared to all the other games at that time, it was quite a shock.

By the way, it's unfortunate that the guy who plays Von Glower and the woman who plays Grace have credits including late night Skinemax movies. It's softcore, but still... They can do better. Heh.

[UPtimist]

Originally Posted by CrimsonBlue

Bad things about GK3: Certain puzzles, stupid interface.

But... The interface was excellent!

I've always thought that. I think it's something like 4.5/5...

[Cellardoor]

The "Which GK game is the best in the series"-discussion between fans is always a very interesting one. The three games are all different and very unique in terms of style, pacing, interface, characters, acting, atmosphere, story, graphics, plot-development etc. that there are different things to like in all GK games, appealing to players with a variety of tastes.

Personally, I consider GK3 to be near-perfect and I find GK2 to be the worst in the series. Also, I think GK2 would've been much better if it hadn't been FMV.

Oh, and I love Tim Curry as Gabe.

[UPtimist]

Originally Posted by Cellardoor

Oh, and I love Tim Curry as Gabe.

It is near blasphemy whoever doesn't.

[Once A Villain]

Originally Posted by UPtimist

It is near blasphemy whoever doesn't.

I liked him in 3. The acting in GK1 just seemed to move too slow, with strange pauses and such. I hated having voices on in GK1. I was fine with the acting in 2 and 3 though.

[Solid Snake]

GK 1 had the best voice acting in series

[Once A Villain]

Originally Posted by Cellardoor

Also, I think GK2 would've been much better if it hadn't been FMV.

I have nothing against that opinion, I just don't understand it. GK2, for me, seemed to be as good of a game (GAMEPLAY-WISE) as GK1, despite using FMV. Back then, no one would have expected that.

I mean, the backgrounds were photos instead of being hand painted, the character you control was an actor but he could move around just as much as the animated Gabe, and the discussions were cutscenes instead of seeing two heads with their mouths moving. There really weren't any differences gameplay-wise. GK1 had more cursors to choose from, but frankly I don't mind the single cursor interface.

Originally Posted by Solid Snake

GK 1 had the best voice acting in series

STRONGLY disagree.

[Melanie68]

So what about the voice acting gave you such pains? You act like it would cause a cerebral aneurysm. It sounded perfectly fine to me and much better than more recent adventures (NIBIRU, Black Mirror[in English], Keepsake).

Edit: I'm a lazy reader. But still, your reaction seems much harsher than many others I've heard.

[RLacey]

Originally Posted by Catbert

I've been asking a friend of mine to lend me his Plan 9 From Outer Space for ages

Rejoice.

[Once A Villain]

Originally Posted by Melanie68

So what about the voice acting gave you such pains? You act like it would cause a cerebral aneurysm. It sounded perfectly fine to me and much better than more recent adventures (NIBIRU, Black Mirror[in English], Keepsake).

Well, I suppose I must admit, I played this game without voices for several years starting in 1994 before ever getting the CD version (didn't have a CD-ROM on my PC at the time). So, I got used to a certain pace of getting through the dialogue. Now, don't get me wrong, I love voice acting in games these days, but The Longest Journey had so much dialogue that was so slowly delivered at times...I finally snapped. I clicked through ALL the dialogue trees and skipped entire conversations, then I would go into the diary or whatever and read the transcript at my own pace.

That could be a small part of my problem with GK1's acting too, I suppose. At the same time, however, I wasn't impressed by the acting itself in the game. Tim Curry tends to overplay, the girl who plays Grace sort of annoyed me, and the worst thing EVER was the narrator. Why do I need some old woman to SLOOOOWLY tell me what I'm looking at?! I'd rather read a description. Tetelo was also rather bad, Mark Hamill was alright I guess, and so on and so forth. Also, the CD-ROM technology back then feels dated. There are awkward pauses between sections of dialogue at times (where the player would be clicking to get to the next part of the same delivery).

All I can say is this...I've never been able to get past Day 3 or 4 of GK1 with the voices on (even with the narrator voice alone turned off) without going insane. How do I know how Tetelo sounds then? And Wolfgang? Because I sampled their voice acting when they appeared in the game. I could never play GK1 all the way through with the voices on...EVER. It's my second favorite adventure game, and I've gone through it 9 times...but not with the voices on.

[Melanie68]

You didn't even like Worf?